Good morning, Chicago. ✶
🔎 Below: Thieves are increasingly targeting airbags in Chicago. We explain why.
🗞️ Plus: City work benefits the Obama Presidential Center, a Mother’s Day event for incarcerated people and more news you need to know.
📝 Keeping score: The Cubs fell to the Rangers, 3-0; the White Sox beat the Mariners, 2-1; the Stars lost to the KC Current, 3-0.
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⏱️: An 8-minute read
TODAY’S WEATHER ☀️
Sunny with a high near 58
TODAY’S TOP STORY 🔎
Why are airbag thefts increasing in Chicago?
By Zoe Singer
Inflated thefts: There has been an uptick in car break-ins targeting airbags across the Chicago area, according to experts and an analysis of Chicago Police Department community alerts.
Recall and resale: Demand for stolen airbags increased nationwide following the recall of approximately 67 million of them that began a decade ago, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. It takes some burglars less than one minute to break into a car and steal the airbag from the driver’s seat, to eventually sell on the black market.
Hot air: The Lake View area has the highest number of airbag theft community alerts from December 2025 to April 2026: 151. The second-highest number, 18, occurred in Humboldt Park. The alerts don’t capture every crime, as airbag thefts often go underreported.
What can be done?: There is no way to completely stop someone from stealing airbags. The Sun-Times reached out to Chicago police to better understand how the department is combating the thefts but did not receive a response. One auto safety group recommends that people park overnight in areas with street lights and cameras, though one police officer described catching an airbag burglar as a “stroke of luck.”
LET’S HEAR FROM YOU 🗣️
Has your vehicle’s airbag been stolen? How have you tried to prevent future thefts?
Respond with your first and last name and neighborhood. We may run your answer in a future newsletter or story.
CHICAGO ✶
Hundreds gather for funeral honoring Chicago police officer slain at hospital
By Cindy Hernandez and Kade Heather
Officer mourned: Slain Chicago police Officer John Bartholomew was remembered Friday as “truly loved by all” as hundreds of mourners — among them police, officials and loved ones — gathered at St. Andrew’s Greek Orthodox Church in Edgewater to say their farewells.
Key context: Bartholomew was shot and killed April 25 at Endeavor Health Swedish Hospital. A robbery suspect he and his partner had brought to the hospital is accused of opening fire inside a CT room, killing Bartholomew and critically wounding the partner. That officer is improving but has “a long way to go” in recovery, Chicago’s top cop said Friday.
Key quote: James Bartholomew said losing his brother was like “being frozen in time.” He said: “He wasn’t only my brother, he was my best friend. And now he’s gone … If you knew him, you knew his heart was full. His heart was pure.”
POLITICS ✶
Obama Presidential Center is helped by $123M in public infrastructure improvements
By Lee Bey
Taxpayers’ portion: When the Obama Presidential Center opens next month and its funders are honored and congratulated, these major financial contributors are worthy of a bow: Chicago and Illinois taxpayers.
Price tag: The Chicago Department of Transportation said it had spent $123.3 million since 2022 on capital projects aimed at remaking roadways and green space in Jackson Park and around the center. The final public infrastructure costs are likely to approach $200 million, and are not part of the presidential center’s privately funded $850 million price tag.
MORE NEWS YOU NEED 🗞️
- 2 killed in shooting: Jassen Cho, who was driving for Uber, and Damarion Johnson, a high school basketball player he picked up, were killed in a drive-by shooting Thursday evening in East Garfield Park. A vehicle linked to the shooting had been found blocks away set on fire, according to police.
- Little Italy priest punished: Rev. Jose Molina was accused of “improper and inappropriate” behavior toward children and women while working at St. Francis of Assisi Parish, according to the Archdiocese of Chicago, which stripped him of his abilities to minister in this district.
- Convicted fraudster ordered held: Vladimir Sklarov will remain locked up at the federal jail in Chicago as he awaits extradition to Manhattan to face charges for allegedly conning Mexican businessman Ricardo Salinas Pliego out of more than $450 million.
- Nurses look to organize: Nearly 3,000 nurses at Endeavor Health in the Chicago area are working to unionize over pay cuts and what they say are unsafe working conditions that also put patients at risk. The effort would unionize nurses at four of Endeavor’s nine hospitals.
- Jim’s Original told to move: The Chicago hot dog stand known for its Maxwell Street Polish sausages is moving from its flagship location because its landlord, the University of Illinois Chicago, plans to redevelop the property.
- Chicago Sinfonietta pause: After news that the orchestra was pausing until next year and laying off administrative staff, musicians expressed shock and disappointment.
- New parking gates: Gates and automatic license plate readers were recently installed in 10 lakeside parks. Some beachgoers this weekend said parking should be free for all; others didn’t mind funding park maintenance.
MOTHER’S DAY 💐
- Mother’s Day in jail: The re-entry organization Bridge to Freedom held a Mother’s Day event for about 80 people incarcerated at the jail Friday. “I’m just learning my lesson now, so I don’t have to miss next year with my children,” one mom of six told WBEZ.
- Moms hold press conference: While many Chicago moms spent Sunday enjoying the spring weather and being pampered by their loved ones, others spent the holiday as their children remained missing. Several such mothers gathered at a South Loop press conference, begging for answers.
- Lessons from mom: On Friday, we shared some answers readers gave us when we asked: “What valuable lesson did you learn from your mom?” Here are more of those words of wisdom.
FROM THE PRESS BOX ⚾🏀🏒
- ABS challenges: Like the rest of baseball, the White Sox are adjusting to MLB’s new ball-strike challenge system.
- Dansby Swanson’s glove care: The Cubs shortstop shared how he keeps the glove he calls “an extension of my hand” in working order.
- Sky season starts: The team survived their first road test Saturday with a win in Portland.
- NBA Draft: The Bulls defied the lottery odds and moved up to No. 4 as another rebuild begins, writes Joe Cowley.
- NHL Draft: Could Ivar Stenberg fall to the No. 4 pick? A look at the Blackhawks’ draft options.
Today’s clue: 6A: Team that got the fourth pick in this weekend’s NBA Draft Lottery
BRIGHT ONE 🔆
Speed puzzlers battle at the Jigsaw Nationals competition
By Erica Thompson
As a first-time spectator at a speed puzzle competition, Cody Busic did not have high expectations. But when the contest started at Clarendon Fieldhouse in Uptown on Saturday morning, he was on the edge of his seat, breathlessly recounting the event like a seasoned announcer.
“No, this was actually thrilling,” said Busic, who was there to support one of the competitors. “The clock starts, everyone’s silent. They’re all racing fast as hell, moving their little hands trying to flip over the pieces. There’s focus, there’s strategy and there’s a lot of movement, oddly enough, for people who look like they’re standing still.”
It was an accurate description of the two-hour USA Jigsaw Puzzle Association solo competition, hosted by the Chicago Puzzle Club. Fifty participants opened their drawstring bags to reveal identical 500-piece puzzles depicting a San Francisco cable car traversing a sunlit California Street.
Some sat and some stood, hovering over white tables littered with drinks, puzzle trays and plush animal toys for good luck. Many donned headphones that played everything from Broadway tunes to classical music.
Ultimately Rae Paul, of Forest Park, was victorious in the solo contest, completing her puzzle in 53 minutes and 15 seconds.
PICTURE CHICAGO 📸
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Written and curated by: Matt Moore
Editor: Eydie Cubarrubia
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